Physical AI– category –

At Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen’s electronics district, foreign tourists are trying on AI glasses one after another. Sales of AI products rose more than 55% year over year from January through July, while sales of AI glasses doubled. Here’s a look at the appeal of their translation features and the industrial cluster in Shenzhen that supports the market.

Aeon Next, part of Japan’s Aeon Group, has announced plans to launch a service on its Green Beans online supermarket that lets customers complete everything from product selection and ordering to payment through conversations with AI. The company is targeting an early 2027 launch. We consider what it means for the starting point of shopping to shift from “search” to “conversation.”

Higuchi Seisakusho Co., Ltd., a long-established press-processing manufacturer based in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, has achieved autonomous patrols by a quadruped robot at its headquarters factory. Here’s a look at how it creates 3D maps using LiDAR, the current state of corridor navigation, and the next phase: anomaly detection.

Hokkaido University and others have announced plans to develop medical AI using Rapidus semiconductors in the 2-nanometer range. The project has a total cost of ¥10.5 billion and will focus on supporting surgery and diagnostic imaging. Here’s a look at the industry-academia collaboration’s goal of finding practical uses for cutting-edge chips.

Amriya Vishwanath, who led product marketing for robotics at NVIDIA for seven years, sees embodied AI as encompassing everything from “molecules, materials, and pharmaceuticals” to factory machinery, and calls the robotics industry “the Lego era.” We explore her perspective and how she views investment.

Boston Dynamics’ humanoid Atlas is taking on parts-sorting work at a Hyundai factory. We explore how more than 4,000 virtual Atlas robots are trained, why everyday movements are difficult, and the “work of operating” robots that lies beyond fears about job losses.

Boston-based nonprofit MassRobotics has opened applications for the sixth cohort of its support program for medical robotics startups. Applications are due December 31, 2026, and the program runs from February to June 2027. Intel’s addition to the steering committee also brings support in edge AI.

The hardest part of robotics development comes when moving from a working prototype to mass production. We take a closer look at what ADI’s planned Emerging Tech Hub entails and the terms of collaboration that matter to startups.

Sweden-based Flox Intelligence is rolling out AI-powered wildlife deterrents that change their sounds based on animals’ species and behavior. The company says about 150 units are operating at airports and along railways, among other sites, and that it has begun raising $10 million in a Series A.

Even with a 99% success rate for a robot's movements, the chance of completing 100 steps in a row is only about 36.6%. We examine what truly measures dexterity—and separates “it worked” in a demo from “we can trust it” in the field.

The use of generative AI for promotional copy and business emails is spreading at major U.S. publishers, according to reports. Employee backlash highlights issues that efficiency alone cannot resolve: explaining the use of AI to authors, managing unpublished manuscripts and working conditions.